Maintenance

I listened to a talk once by Elder Maxwell in which he referred to his wife as “low maintenance but high yield”. I’ve thought a lot about that. I truly, truly try to be low maintenance. But I’m not all of the time. In fact, and unfortunately, there are times that I’m quite high maintenance. Sometimes little things (or big things) overwhelm me and my reaction to the consequential feelings often brings others down too. And sometimes I let discouragement take over. And sometimes I’m just downright grouchy :(. All of these things make me more demanding on others than I should be. But I’ve found that if I maintain myself, I don’t slip into that ‘high maintenance’ mode nearly as often. I like to think about it like a car. If I get the oil changed every three months, it is likely that it will not need major repairs as often. If I read my scriptures and do other spiritual things daily (for me it takes both), my overall demands on others and my levels of discouragement are relatively low. One thing very high on my maintenance list is listening to talks. They help me oh so much. So I thought I’d share what has been on my maintenance list lately: (at least the ones I’ve enjoyed the most)

Elder Holland This talk was given in 1980 right before Elder Holland became president of BYU. As always, he is a great storyteller and amazing speaker. . . he talked about not becoming discouraged.

Todd Parker He talks about finding happiness amidst our trials. Gives wonderful scripture references.

Mary Williams She told an amazing story about a lady taking crab and French bread to someone and it was the very thing that lady needed that day. Made me cry. Very good listen.

Greg Palmer Talked about all of us having gifts of the spirit and ways to tap into them. Very good talk. Need to listen to it again.

Carrie Wrigley This is a talk about overcoming depression. . . excellent listening even if you don’t fall into that category. She also gives some good scriptures that I need to go back and write down.

Brent Barlow I really liked the notion that the best of our marriage is yet to be. I’ve had so many great times with Tom; it means I’ve got a lot more to look forward to :). I like that. There is a lot more in this talk, I just picked my favorite strand.

. . now off to concentrate on that high yield part :).